Live Search - Top Mobile Applications 2007

Live Search

Companies: Sprint/Microsoft
Why It's a Top App: Six months after acquiring voice-enabled solutions provider Tellme Networks for more than $1 billion, Microsoft bolstered its year-old strategic alliance with Sprint by unveiling an enhanced version of the operator's Live Search service touted as the industry's first fully integrated GPS location-aware mobile search to deliver voice search with visual results. It's not difficult to imagine how voice promises to revolutionize mobile search technology--whether you're behind the wheel, juggling parental duties or simply a poor speller, the appeal of sending and receiving search information by speaking the name of a business or retail category into your phone and reading the search results on the handset screen is irresistible. Factor into the equation more traditional mobile search functions like local listings and maps as well as built-in GPS capabilities--not to mention the geographic scope and reach a nationwide operator brings to the table--and Live Search is the most comprehensive, user-friendly search service going.